PhD

Finance

The Finance group at MIT Sloan delves into the study of markets for real and financial assets, emphasizing the practical applications of modern financial theory widely adopted by Wall Street and corporations. Students gain a robust understanding of foundational theories and acquire the tools necessary for conducting both theoretical and applied research. After completing coursework in microeconomics and macroeconomics, students tailor their research programs with faculty guidance, often contributing to and expanding on faculty research. Notable faculty members include Hui Chen, whose research intersects asset pricing and corporate finance; Deborah Lucas, known for her work on public sector financial management; and Maryam Farboodi, who explores the economics of big data and its impact on financial markets. 

Research from Finance Faculty

Press MIT Sloan Management Review

Resolving muddled objectives in corporate venture capital

Professor Michael Cusumano and co-author wrote: "Large companies seeking access to new technologies have been establishing corporate venture capital (CVC) units for many years. But returns on those investments can be erratic, and new technologies can be difficult for the parent company to take advantage of. Why do many companies struggle to derive adequate benefits from their CVC efforts? We think that at the heart of the issue is a persistent confusion over objectives that ultimately makes CVCs difficult to sustain."

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Press Financial Times

Simon Johnson: 'Nobody needs as many white-collar workers as they used to'

Technology with the potential to drive innovation and help create new activities is currently viewed by too many companies as a means to replace workers — and young people are most exposed. That is why professor Simon Johnson has embraced an invitation from the UK government to chair a new AI Economics Institute that aims to help policymakers shape the adoption of AI so that it boosts wages rather than worsens existing inequalities.

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Full-Time Faculty

Paul Asquith

Paul Asquith

Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance

Paul Asquith is the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Asquith is a specialist in corporate finance and a media source for the field of corporate finance and control, including…

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Hui Chen

Hui Chen

Nomura Professor of Finance

Hui Chen is the Nomura Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on asset pricing and its connections with corporate finance. Chen is particularly interested in the interactions…

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Taha Choukhmane

Taha Choukhmane

Albert F. (1942) & Jeanne P. Clear Career Development Associate Professor in Global Management

John C. Cox

John C. Cox

Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus

John Cox is the Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. A leading authority on corporate finance and finance theory, Cox has developed an inter-temporal financial model broad enough to include the fundamental…

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